Lila Rossi
Lila Rossi, also known as Volpina in her akumatized form, is a recurring antagonist in the French-superhero cartoon series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. She is a student at Collège Françoise Dupont and the archenemy of Ladybug, who is bent on getting revenge on her for ruining her chances with Adrien Agreste, thus allowing her to be akumatized by Hawk Moth on several different occasions. She is voiced by Clara Soares in the original French dub, and by Lisa Kay Jennings in the English dub. Appearance Lila is Italian. She has olive green eyes and long chestnut brown hair with bangs. Her hair is loosely tied at the tips with orange bands where she has two shorter strands of hair. She has red-orange wristbands on her right arm. She wears a red-orange jacket over a dark gray romper that has tiny white spots. Additionally, she wears light gray tights and brown high heel boots. As Volpina, she wears an orange mask with black edges, and her hair bands are black. On top of her head, two fake orange ears with white and black insides are attached. The top of her hair is black and then ombrés down to light brown with the tips of her hair being white. She also has orange lipstick. The necklace with a fox tail hanging off of it is worn around her neck. Her outfit is orange with a white section going down the front. Wrapped around her waist is an orange sash that looks like a fox tail. The edges of her collar and the tops of her upper arms have black lines, and her forearms and lower legs are solid black, with the soles of her feet being white with an orange fox foot printed on each. History Season 1 In "Volpina", while heading to class, Marinette begins to hear numerous stories about a girl named Lila, who is said to know Prince Ali, even having rode in his private jet, have a song written about her by Jagged Stone, and know all the famous Hollywood directors. Confused, Marinette asks Alya about Lila, who explains she is a new student from Italy, pointing to her upstairs with Adrien (whom she is very clearly infatuated with), before playing a Ladyblog interview in which Lila claims she is close friends with Ladybug. Seeing Lila with Adrien, Marinette begins to panic about how he might fall in love with her, and follows them both into the library. In the library, Lila prepares to study with Adrien, and notices the Miraculous Spellbook which he had taken from his father. Seeing the past heroes documented within it, she claims to love superheroes, only to become quickly annoyed upon noticing Adrien's crush on Ladybug. Again claiming to be friends with Ladybug, she suggests that they meet at the park after school where she can tell Adrien more about their friendship. As Adrien hastily attempts to leave for his fencing class, Lila startles him, making him spill his books from his bag,. Whilst confirming their meeting at the park, she slips the Spellbook away from him. After Adrien leaves, she flips the book open to a page about a Fox Miraculous holder, and, declaring it "interesting", leaves. Later, Lila goes to a jewelry shop, where she buys a necklace that resembles the Fox Miraculous, all while being watched by Marinette and Tikki, the latter wanting to find out if the book is the same one Master Fu lost. While comparing her necklace to the one in the book, Lila spots Adrien and panics, immediately hiding the book by tossing it in a garbage can. As Marinette and Tikki recover the book, Lila lies to Adrien by claiming that she is the descendant of the vixen superheroin Volpina, who is far more powerful and celebrated than Ladybug. Enraged, Marinette transforms into Ladybug and calls Lila out for her lies, making her run off, crying. Saddened that her chances with Adrien have been ruined, Lila declares her hatred of Ladybug to a poster featuring her and begins crying again. Sensing Lila's sadness, Hawk Moth sends an akuma after her, which possesses her necklace. Hawk Moth offers to grant Lila the power to bring her lies to life, also instructing her to pretend to be a real superhero so that she can gain Ladybug and Cat Noir's trust in order to betray them and steal their Miraculouses. Lila eagerly accepts the offer and transforms into Volpina, using her powers to make the Ladybug poster of one of her carrying Adrien away, before leaving. Later, she uses her powers again to create an illusion of a giant meteor, which, using another illusion of herself, she stops and throws away with ease, though the meteor illusion falls apart upon hitting a pigeon. Volpina declares herself as the only superhero Paris needs while Ladybug and Cat Noir discuss her arrival, only for her to suddenly come to them asking for help. The three run to another rooftop to see Hawk Moth standing out in the open, Volpina claiming that they need to pool their talents in order to take him down. Ladybug becomes skeptical about the meteor and Hawk Moth both appearing in one day and questions Volpina about her Miraculous and abilities, which is cut short when Hawk Moth makes his escape. The three chase him to the Hôtel de Ville and Volpina orders Ladybug to go right and Cat Noir to go left while she takes Hawk Moth from behind, only for Ladybug to rebut her orders with her own, which doesn't bother Volpina. Volpina then flies behind a chimney, where she is destroyed by the real Volpina, who comments that Ladybug and Cat Noir are falling into her trap. Ladybug soon loses Hawk Moth and is cornered by an assembly of fake weapons conjured by Volpina, who reveals her true intentions and, indirectly, her identity. Volpina proclaims that everyone now thinks she is a superhero and everyone will think Ladybug is the liar, before being instructed by Hawk Moth to get Ladybug's Miraculous. Volpina threatens Ladybug and seemingly destroys a building in order to force her to give up her Miraculous, only for a pigeon to destroy the illusion and make Ladybug realize what her powers are. Ladybug destroys the weapon illusions and the fake Volpina, and calls Cat Noir to tell him the truth, theorizing that Volpina could be headed to Adrien's house. At his house, Cat Noir detransforms back into Adrie, planning to talk Volpina down. Immediately afterwards, Volpina, again just an illusion, quickly arrives and proclaims how she is a "real" superhero to him. Ladybug then bursts in and confronts Volpina, who claims that she is jealous of her and Adrien's relationship, the latter gently dismissing her claims before running off to transform. While Ladybug and Cat Noir are distracted by several illusions of herself, another illusion of Volpina kidnaps "Adrien" and takes him to the Eiffel Tower, threatening to throw him off if the heroes don't give up their Miraculouses. While Ladybug prepares to give up, Cat Noir isn't fooled and destroys the illusion, and he and Ladybug chase the real Volpina up to the top of the tower. Volpina creates an illusion army of herself, however, using her Lucky Charm, Ladybug summons a ice cream bar, which gives out a powerful light in order to blind and give away the real Volpina. Cat Noir then traps Volpina using his Cataclysm, allowing Ladybug to destroy her necklace and de-akumatize her. Ladybug apologizes for her overreaction previously, hoping to settle Lila's anger, although she refuses to forgive her, claiming they'll never be friends before storming off. From his lair, Hawk Moth, sensing that Lila is still angry, ominously says that Ladybug hasn't seen the last of Volpina. Season 2 In "The Collector", Marinette mentions Lila while telling Master Fu where she found the Miraculous Spellbook. In "Sapotis", Alya, after using the Fox Miraculous to transform into Rena Rouge, remarks how she looks "like Lila when she was akumatized". In "Catalyst", after Gabriel Agreste remarks that he won't forgive himself if his latest plan fails, Nathalie Sancoeur tells him that it is flawless, as Lila has spent months growing her hatred of Ladybug and it will be peaked now that everyone is celebrating her on Heroes' Day. At the same time, Lila, live streaming to her classmates from the Kowa Kingdom, tells Miss Bustier's class about how Prince Ali had invited her family to stay in his palace. Marinette quickly tries to debunk her claims by pointing out that Prince Ali is in the U.S., but Lila rebuffs this by reminding her she never said Prince Ali was with them. Lila then tells the class that, for her Heroes' Day assignment, she is going to get Prince Ali's approval for a project to reduce pollution in several different countries, claiming even superheroes like Ladybug can't solve every problem. Upon ending the stream, Lila, who was really just in her room the whole time, is met by her mother, who is wondering who she was talking to on the phone. Lila lies and says it was her boyfriend Adrien, and further claims that the school is still closed because of the constant akuma attacks. Her mother is subsequently called by Mr. Damocles, although Lila convinces her not to answer him as he's probably been akumatized as well. They are both then interrupted by the Heroes' Day parade, which irritates Lila. Following her mother's leave, Lila is seen bitterly scrolling through news feed of people showing their appreciation for Ladybug, when, as part of Gabriel's plan, she comes across an interview featuring him. Gabriel claims that, to show his appreciation towards Ladybug for saving him, his son, and Paris on numerous occasions, he is financing a movie about her, while also dismissing fake heroes like Volpina. Seeing this, Lila is driven over the edge and proclaims her hatred of Ladybug. Sensing her anger, Gabriel transforms into Hawk Moth and sends an akuma after her, which attaches to her bracelet. Greeting Hawk Moth, she is offered the power of illusion again and the opportunity to get back at Ladybug, which she readily accepts, turning back into Volpina. Over the parade, Volpina casts an illusion of an evil, akumatized Ladybug dueling with Cat Noir, culminating in Ladybug destroying the latter with his own Cataclysm, imbuing all of Paris with fear and sadness. Pleased, Hawk Moth contacts Volpina and tells her that she played her part perfectly and will see him again soon, Volpina claiming that she can't wait. Hawk Moth then revokes Lila's akuma, and she, smiling, watches as it is de-akumatized and her illusion fades away. Later, after Hawk Moth re-akumatizes most of his past victims thanks to Catalyst's empowerment, Lila is presumably transformed again off-screen. In "Mayura", as the final step of Hawk Moth's grand plan, Volpina is summoned to the Eiffel Tower and creates an illusion of him to hold Ladybug and Cat Noir's attention while they are shot by Dark Cupid's arrows and imbued with hatred in order to make them vulnerable to akumatization by the real Hawk Moth. However, the plan fails when Ladybug spots Hawk Moth due to the reflective cover of the Miraculous Box she received from her Lucky Charm, resulting in Hawk Moth's cane being destroyed by Cat Noir, de-akumatizing everyone at once. When this happens, Lila is shown being shocked at the sight of her purified akuma flying away. She is last seen bitterly looking down on the picnic Marinette had thrown for her class before closing the shutters on her window. Personality Lila is highly deceptive and crafty, being able to manipulate people exceedingly with her lies, Tikki even remarking she's never seen someone as skilled at lying as her. She is overly fond of attention and has no qualms with how she may acquire it, leading to her making up various false tales about herself towards her peers in order to garner as much attention as possible. She seems to view no harm in these actions and possesses no remorse for them, yet can be incredibly distraught if they are exposed. Furthermore, she also seems to envy the attention others receive, quickly becoming jealous upon realizing Adrien has a crush on Ladybug and going out of her way to make him feel the same about her. She also does not forgive people whom she thinks to have wronged her easily, as shown in her refusing Ladybug's apology for her harshly exposing her lies. Her hatred of Ladybug in general appears to be rather petty and undying, with her being enraged at the attention she receives and willing to grab up any opportunity to get back at her for supposedly ruining her chances with Adrien. Thus, as Volpina, she takes great joy in beating and tormenting Ladybug, gleeful in nearly succeeding at taking her Miraculous twice by exploiting her emotions. Through her usage of her powers, she can be incredibly precarious in her attempts to overcome Ladybug and Cat Noir, almost never confronting them directly and using her illusions to fool and trick them into being where she needs them to be, although her arrogance in doing so seems to match her cunning. As shown in "Catalyst", she seems to take pleasure in ruining Ladybug's reputation using her illusions even after being de-akumatized, showing absolutely no remorse, making her the first of Hawk Moth's victims to genuinely enjoy her actions while akumatized. Overall, Lila is vindictive, spiteful and seemingly detached from telling any sort of truth, making her one of Ladybug and Cat Noir's more clever enemies. Powers and Abilities As a civilian Lila is very skillful at lying. As Volpina She has a replica of the flute staff as her weapon. With her flute, Volpina can play a tune with an idea in mind to create a glowing orange ball of energy. She can throw the ball anywhere with her flute, and it will create whatever incredibly lifelike illusion that she wants. This can be as simple as creating multiple illusory copies of herself or grander by forming a large comet or a collapsing building. She also appears to be able to imitate specific people with her illusions, as she creates a duplicate of Adrien that is convincing enough to trick Ladybug. However, the illusions are intangible, and when touched will disappear in an orange cloud. Her flute is also long enough to wield as a staff. Trivia *Lila's name means "beauty", and her surname Rossi means "red" in Italian. *According to Thomas Astruc, he intentionally made Lila to be "unlovable". *Volpina is likely inspired by the fox spirit of East Asian lore, which uses illusions to fool people and occasionally takes the form of an attractive young woman. *The way Volpina uses her flute as a weapon is reminiscent of how Melodie, a deleted character, appeared to have done the same. *Lila is the only known person, besides Gabriel Agreste/Hawk Moth and Nathalie Sancoeur/Mayura, to hate Ladybug even when not akumatized. *As of "Catalyst", Lila is the only past akumatized victim to have been re-akumatized into her previous identity with a different akuma. The akuma is also the only one to have ever been revoked and de-akumatized by Hawk Moth himself. *Strangely, unlike the other villains re-akumatized by Scarlet Hawk Moth in "Mayura", Volpina did not receive a red redesign. *Both Lila and Chloé are interested in Adrien, the love interest of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. *She is currently the only villain in the series to not have a change of heart, even when not akumatized. *Volpina, along with Copycat, Antibug and Queen Wasp, is one of the few akumatized villains who is based off of a pre-existing Miraculous holder. **As such, her powers and appearance are very similar to Rena Rouge, as they can both create illusions and have similar fox-themed costumes. However, unlike Volpina, who can create multiple illusions without losing power, Rena Rouge can only make one illusion per transformation. Also, Rena Rouge uses her powers to stop Hawk Moth and his akumatized villains, while Volpina uses them to get her revenge on Ladybug. 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